View other reviews for this product:
Hatsubai « The other scalloped strat »
Published on 04/25/11 at 15:30The Ritchie Blackmore strat is the guitar that has become less famous than Yngwie's, yet Yngwie's strat was based off of this very model (despite what he likes to claim). It has your standard alder body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, vintage tremolo, 21 frets, etc. The unique features of this guitar are that it has a dummy middle pickup, 3 way switch, 3 bolt neck, 70s styling and most importantly - the scalloped neck.
UTILIZATION
Fender did a really good job when they developed this guitar. It feels very nice, and the neck is a comfortable U shaped neck. That said, the radius on this guitar is absolutely awful. It's a very old school 7.25'' radius, and considering I'm someone who likes flatter radius necks, it's a pain to play. The scalloped neck is very nice, and the graduated way of doing it is a cool trick. I used to disable the middle pickup like Ritchie does, but I've since stopped due to wanting to have a bit more versatile guitar. The disabled middle pickup sure brought back memories, though.
SOUNDS
The Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups are pretty nice, fat single coils. They have a cool vowely sound that works with clean, midgain and even high gain. However, be aware that they're very noisy. This can be a downside depending on your application. Like I mentioned above, the middle pickup is disabled, so this won't be quite as versatile as other strats out there. I miss positions 2 and 4 the most, but it's more meant for shred than versatility.
OVERALL OPINION
The Ritchie Blackmore strat isn't as popular as Yngwie's for whatever reason, and in some ways, I can see why. The vintage radius on this guitar is absolutely awful. That aside, it's a really great guitar that sounds quite nice. If you don't mind the lack of versatility, this is worth checking out. However, I feel that the Yngwie strats are a bit of a better buy, personally.
UTILIZATION
Fender did a really good job when they developed this guitar. It feels very nice, and the neck is a comfortable U shaped neck. That said, the radius on this guitar is absolutely awful. It's a very old school 7.25'' radius, and considering I'm someone who likes flatter radius necks, it's a pain to play. The scalloped neck is very nice, and the graduated way of doing it is a cool trick. I used to disable the middle pickup like Ritchie does, but I've since stopped due to wanting to have a bit more versatile guitar. The disabled middle pickup sure brought back memories, though.
SOUNDS
The Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups are pretty nice, fat single coils. They have a cool vowely sound that works with clean, midgain and even high gain. However, be aware that they're very noisy. This can be a downside depending on your application. Like I mentioned above, the middle pickup is disabled, so this won't be quite as versatile as other strats out there. I miss positions 2 and 4 the most, but it's more meant for shred than versatility.
OVERALL OPINION
The Ritchie Blackmore strat isn't as popular as Yngwie's for whatever reason, and in some ways, I can see why. The vintage radius on this guitar is absolutely awful. That aside, it's a really great guitar that sounds quite nice. If you don't mind the lack of versatility, this is worth checking out. However, I feel that the Yngwie strats are a bit of a better buy, personally.